Apparatus for converting zinc-sulfate solution into zinc oxid.



" ,No. 315,516Q-ff" qPATENTBD MAR.20,190

I .44 I f 0.3. DEWEY.

I AP ARATUSFOR'GONiVERTING ZING'SULFATE,SOLUTIONINTO ZINC OXID.

- APPLIQA'IION FILED JAN.24, 1905.

3 Ts-sinmr 1.

I l l" l .l I' I' I avwawfoz 110.. 315,516. PA'TBNTED AR. 20; 1906;[ Y

1 G-B-DEWE 4 APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING ZINC SULFATE SOLUTION INTOIZINOOXID. 1 T Y Y APPLICATION FILED JA N.'24.'1905.

'3 SHEETS-SH ET s.

U TED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

CHAUNOEY E. DEW Y, or DENV R, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO THE 7 AMERICAN z ncAND CHEMICAL COMPANY, or DENVER, ooLo- -RADO.

.A APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING ZINC-SULFATE se unou INTO zmc oxm.

To all whom it mdy cortc er nk l Be it known that I, CHA NCEY E. DEWEY,-

a citizen of the United States, residing in the cit and county of Denverand State ofColora 0, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Converting Zinc-Sulfate Solution intoZinc Oxid; anddofldeclare the following'to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art'to whichit. appertains to make andusethe same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings,-and to the figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

-My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for convertingzinc-sulfate solution into zinc oxid, my object being to carry out theaforesaid function on a commercial scale. In myimproved ap ara'tus twoindependently-revoluble cylin ers are mounted in axial alineme'nt,theiradjacent extremities being 0 en and in such proximity to each otherthat the heat may readily pass from one to the other. In one of thesecylinders the calcining operation or the operation of removing the sufuric acid from the zinc sulfate is effected, while in the other thesolution is evaporated to dryness or approximately so. The calciningcylinder or chamber is located in suitable proximity to a furnace orfire-box whereby the heat and products of combustion pass directly fromthe fire-box into one end of the rotary chamber orcylinder, while theheat and products of.

com ustion pass from the calcining-chamber into the evaporating-chamber,and thence into a dust-chamber located at the extremity of theevaporating-chamber remote from the calcining-chamber. In connectionwith the apparatus just described I employ suitable means for rotatingthe said cylinders or chambers and also means for feeding thezinc-sulfate solution in the first instance to the evapcrating-chamber.,I further employ means for transferring the zinc sulfate after takingit from the evaporating-chamber and delivering it to thecalcining-chamber all as hereinafter more fully described,referencebeing made to the accompan in which is illustrated an emodiment of the invention In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation ofSpecification of Letters Patent. I Applieatien filed-Tannery 24. 1 05.Serial No. 242,570.

tate.

7, forming circular tracks which engage 'wheels 8, mounted on a shaft'9.

- Worm-Wheel 14, engaged by aworm 15.

drawlngs, 1n

Patented. March 20, 1906.

arrow 1n Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the tworotary tanks or cylin ders employed, together with the fire-box,

with the said cylinders. Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of two sets ofcylinders illustrating the manner of increasing the capacity of a plantof this character. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the mechanism forimparting the rotczlary movement to the alined tanks or cyliners A Thesame reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the cylinder in which the evaporation takesplace, and '6 the calcining-cylinder or.the tank in which the sulfuricacid is driven off from the zinc sulfate. These two cylinders are inaxial alinement with each other and are mounted to ro- The cylinder 5 isprovided with rings One exthe apparatus looking. in the'direction of thedust-chamber, and smoke-flue in alinement tremity of his shaft isprovided with a sprocket-wheel 10, which may be connected with asprocket 12, (see Fig. 4,) mounted on a shaft 13, provided at oneextremity witlh a he worm-shaft is provided .wlth a pulle 16 fortransmitting power to the wormsha t from a line-shaft or an suitablemotor. (Not shown.) Upon t e shaft 13 is mounted a small gear 17, whichm'eshes with a larger gear 18, fast on a shaft 19. Upon'the lastnamedshaft is mounted a pinion 20, meshing with a larger'gear 21, mounted onthe shaft 13. The gears 20 and 21 are normally loose on their respectiveshafts; but they may be made fast on the same through theinstrumentality of suitable clutch mechanism. The

shaft 13 is rovided with a clutch-sleeve 22, splined on t e shaft andadapted to interlock with the wheel '21 when the clutch-sleeve isproperly adjusted, as shown in Fig. 4. Upon the shaft/19 is also mounteda c utch-sleeve 23, adapted to engage interlocking lugs 24 formed on theinion 20. ployed for shifting the respective clutches. This lever isfulcrumed intermediate the shafts 13 and 19, as shown at 26/ The twoclutch-sleeves 22 and 23 may be alternately thrown into osition to looktheir respective gears on t e shaft. In other A lever 25 is emroo-words, when the gear 21 is locked to rotate I most.

with the shaft 13, as shown in Fig. 4 of the I drawings, the pinion orsmall gear 20 is an idler. On the other hand, when the lever 25 is shownin the position the reverse of that shown in Fig. 4 the pinion 20 islocked on the shaft 19, while the gear 21 is loose on said shaft. Inthis event motion is transmitted first from the shaft 13 to the shaft 19through the instrumentality of the gears 17 and 18 and then from theshaft 19 to the gear 21 through the instrumentality of the pinion 20. Asprocket-wheel 27 is also connected with the gear 21, whereby a motionis transmitted to a sprocket 28. fast on a shaft 29, carrying two flaned Wheels 30, which engage. circular trac s 31, fast on thecalciningcylinder 6. In this way motion is communicated to thecalcining-cylinder eitherdirectly from the shaft 13 or from the shaft 13through the instrumentality of the shaft 19, as heretofore explained.

The two cylinders 5 and 6 are open at both extremities. At one end ofthe cylinder 6 is located a fire-box 32 for supplying the cylinders 5and 6 with the necessary heat for the erformance of the calcining andevaporating hinetion. The heat and products of combustion enter thecylinder 6 through the o ening 33 adjacent the fire-box and escape terefrom through the opening 34 at its opposite end into an opening 35 inone extremity of the cylinder 5. The products of combustion finallyescape from the cylinder 5 through an opening 36 at its opposite endinto a dust-chamber 37, and thence through an opening 38 near the bottomof the chamber into a flue 39, leading to the stack. (Not shown.)

A pan 40 may be mounted on top of the dust-chamber for the purpose ofheating the zinc-sulfate solution preparatory to its discharge into theevaporating-chamber. In this event a valve-controlled conduit 41 leadsfrom the pan 40 to a funnel-sha ed hopper 42, also mounted on the dust-camber 37 and provided with a dischargeconduit 43, leading into theopening 36 of the tank. If it is not desiredto first heat the sulfatesolution, the valve 41 of the conduit 41 is closed and the solutionplaced in the hopper 42 in the first instance. After the contents of thetank 5 have been evaporated to dryness, the same being in a loose ordisintegrated condition, as heretofore explained, the cylinder isstopped with its manhole 44 lowermost. This manhole is then opened byremovin its head or cover and the contents of the cy inder dischargedinto a car 45. This car is then propelled in any suitable manner along atrack 46 to an elevator 47, through the instrumentality of which the caris elevated to a track 48, which occupies a position above the calciningtank or cylinder 6. This cylinder is stopped with its manhole upper- Itscover 49 is removed and the contents of the car discharged into thecylinder 6 through the opening 50. This opening is then closed, afterwhich the cylinder is rotated until the zinc sulfate has been convertedin to zinc oxid, this being the final step of the process.

In the construction shown in Fig. 3 two cylinders 5 and two cylinders 6are em loyed. As the cylinders 5 are duplicates of eac 1 other, which isalso true of the cylinders 6, it is not necessary to refer to the twosets of cylinders more in detail, except to state that the number ofcylinders is immaterial and may be multiplied to any extent, accordingto the desired capacity of the plant.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of my improvedapparatus will be readily understood. Assuming that there is sufficientheat in the fire-box 32 to perform the calcining and evaporatingfunctions, the zinc-sulfate solution may be discharged into the pan 40,whereby it is heated by virtue of the heated condition of thedust-chamber 37, to which products of combustion ass on their way to thestack. After this ieating the solution is discharged into the cylinder5, which I will assume is caused to rotate through the instrumentalityof suitable mechanism, as heretofore explained. The surplus heat fromthe calcining-chamber, passingv to the evaporating-chamber, is stillsufficiently high for purposes of evaporation. By reason of the rotaryaction of the cylinder during the process of evaporation the zincsulfate is kept broken up, and as soon as the evaporation is completedor the zinc sulfate is dry the rotation of the cylinder is stopped andits contents discharged into a car and transferred to the cylinder 6,where the process is completed by subi'ecting the zinc sulfate to ahigher degree of ieat, whereby the sulfuric acid is driven off.

If desired, the pan 40 may be placed within the chamber 37 and suitablemeans provid ed for conducting its contents into the cylinder 5.

Attention is also called to the fact that in practicing the processcarried out by the apparatus herein described it is preferred to place auantity of fine coal in the solution. Durin t e treatment within theevaporating-cy inder this coal will become thoroughly mingled with thecontents of the cylinder, and when the latter are evaporated to drynessthe coal will be evenly distributed therethrough. Hence when the zincsulfate is discharged into the calcining chamber or cylinder the coalfacilitates the calcining operation whereby the sulfuric acid isremoved.

The process may be carried out Without the use of coal; but it isbelieved preferable to add the coal, as just explained Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim is.

1. In an apparatus for converting zinc sulfate into zinc oxid, thecombination of two independently-revoluble axially-alined chambersarranged in suitable proximity to each other and having adjacent openextremities, means for delivering heat to one chamber at its extremityremote from the other chamber, means for delivering the zinc-sulfatesolution to the chamber-remote from the heatgenerating means, and meansexterior to the chambers for transferring the contents of the last-namedchamber to its companion cham-' ber, substantially as described. 7

s 2. The combination with a'suitahle source of heat, of acalcining-chamber mounted to rotate and having open ends, one end beingadjacent the source of heat, an evaporatingohamber also mounted torotate and having open ends, one end of the evaporating-chamber beingad'acent the open end of the calcining-chamber remote from the source ofheat, means for delivering zinc-sulfate solution to the extremity of theevaporating-.

. chamber remote from the calcining-chamher, and means exterior to bothchambers for transferring the contents of the evaporating-chamber to thecalcining chamber, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a suitable source of heat, of acalciningchambermounted to rotate and having open extremities, one ofwhich is ad acent the source of heat, an evapcrating-chamber arranged inaxial alinement with the calcining-chamber, the evaporatingchamberhaving open ends and also mounted to rotate, suitable means forimparting rotary movement .to the two chambers, and means exterior toboth chambers fortransferring the contents of the evaporatingchamber tothe c alciningchamber.

4. The combination with a firebox or source of heat, an openendedcalciningchamber mounted to rotate and having one extremity adjacent thesource of heat, an openended evaporating chamber, also mounted to rotateand having one of its ends as close to the calcining-chamber as is con-'sistent with independent movement, means exterior to both chambers fortransferring the contents ofthe evaporating-chamber to thecalcining-chamber, a dust-chamber located at the extremity of theevaporatingchamber remote from the calcining-chamber,

suitable means for delivering the material to be treated, to theextremity of the evapo rating-chamber remote from the calciningchamber,and suitable means for imparting rotary movement to the two chambersindependently of each other, substantially as described.

5. The combination of two independentlyrevoluble horizontally-arrangedand axiallyalined open ended chambers mounted in suitable-proximity toeach other, one of the chambers being a calcining-chamber and the otheran evaporating-chamber, means for delivering heat to thecalcining-chamber at the extremity remote from the evaporatingchamber,means for delivering the material to be treated, to the extremity of theevaporating-chamber remote from the calcining-

